US sanctions 15 in Northeast Cartel business network
The US Treasury on October 13, 2026, sanctioned four individuals and 11 entities it links to Mexico's Cartel del Noreste, freezing any US assets and barring Americans from doing business with them. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called it the agency's largest action to date against CDN's financial machinery, a network spanning horse racing, construction, trucking and energy. The US designated the cartel a terrorist organization in 2025. Those named include businessman Gamaliel Garza Garcia and son Gamaliel Garza Elias with nine related companies; Pablo Cesar Guajardo Alvarez, alias Takia, called by Treasury the CDN plaza boss in Nuevo Laredo; Francisco Javier Inzunza Partida of trucker Tamex; and Club La Molienda, a Tamaulipas racetrack Treasury says the cartel controls. Treasury cited Tamex after seizure of 52 kg of cocaine in trailer brake drums, and said front companies spent $16 million on US quarter-horse racing and laundered over $22 million from 2008 to 2012, with 455 horses seized. Guajardo Alvarez was arrested in 2020 over the 2017 killing of five Mexican justice officials. CDN founders the Trevino Morales brothers were transferred to US custody in 2025. Treasury also alleged use of businesses for political campaign financing. No contested claims found in the record.